4/8/10

Thursday’s Training – Am: 4*2 mile with 4 mins rec. 9.40, 9.37, 9.34, 9.25 Pm: 59 mins easy

Mileage – 25 Miles

I hadn’t realised until I was going to bed last night that Greg had texted me to say that we would be going down to Sedona for the workout as the weather was supposed to be decent and there were a bunch of others doing a workout there also. I was relieved about this as I was going to have to do the session on Trina’s loop and it can get pretty monotonous. I then remembered that instead of doing two big loops for each rep I would now be doing 8 laps of the track for each rep! After all the marathon training I have been doing my mind has adapted to this and 10 mins of running really isn’t too boring. I met up with Martin at 8am and we headed down to Sedona and met the others at the track. We warmed up with Brett and then headed down to the track to get on with our drills and strides. Brett and Martin were running 2*2miles and the 2*1 mile so I thought I would maybe have some company for my 4*2 mile but they were to run much faster than I was so they started their workout while I finished of getting ready. Greg didn’t want the session to feel that hard and wanted me to be relaxed the whole way so he just wanted me to run 4.50 miles with the option of picking it up on the last rep. I was pretty tired when I woke up this morning but I felt fine once I got running and the pace felt pretty easy so that was a good sign as the last week of training has been pretty intense (3 workouts in the last 5 days with another big one set for Sunday). Getting through the first 2 reps was fine but after that was when I changed my mindset and started to imagine the London course and how I want to feel at specific points. I know it will start to feel hard on the later stages of the race so I pictured myself relaxing and feeling strong as I passed the 22 mile mark. On the last rep I was aerobically fine but my legs were starting to feel a little more tired as I picked up the pace. I could see myself running down Birdcage Walk and then turning onto The Mall and running fast down the last 200m of the race. It was good to finish after 32 laps of the track. The one thing that made a difference today was the weather. There was only a slight wind but the temperature was up so it felt good to get some rays on the skin and not having a cold wind whipping through my body. I had a quick word with Greg about the workout on Sunday (we will have to assess how I feel before I do it and really listen to my body to see if it recovered enough to hit a long hard tempo again) and then joined the guys on the warm down. I finished up and got some stretching done and then we headed back up the road. Just as I was digging into some food, Mark Woods called me from Scotland for an interview for Sunday’s paper (I think Scotland on Sunday) and then I tried to sleep. No success! For the life of me I couldn’t get to sleep so I just lay down to give my legs a rest before my next run.

I also got the good news from my mum that the custom made Oakley’s that Oakley were making for me had arrived so I would be picking them up from her once I get back to Scotland. I am leaving for Scotland on Sunday and will be in Edinburgh for a couple of days before I head to St Andrews to stay at Ronnie’s house so I can just focus on getting over jet lag and getting my final preparations done before the race. I will be heading down to London on the Thursday before the race and will be doing some press obligations on the Friday as well as making an appearance at the Mizuno stand at the marathon expo.

I had booked a massage for 6pm so I headed out the door at 4.30pm and went up to Buffalo again and got 3 laps done and headed back down the trail to finish off 10 miles. It wasn’t without incident though. With about a mile to go, a young couple were running with their dog off the leash (a fully grown boxer) and the moment the dog spotted me, it headed straight for me at a full sprint. Luckily I have had to deal with this kind of situation before and I have no problem hurting a dog before it gets a chance to take lumps out of me. I ran hard towards the dog and jumped right in its face right before it started to jump and I pushed it onto its side. It then growled and came back at me, which just prompted me to give it a swift kick in the head. Job done…the dog ran off. It didn’t stop the girl from screaming at me about how the dog is friendly and it would have never hurt me. I reminded her that it charged at me and just headed off the trail. I think her boyfriend knew I did the right thing as he grabbed his girlfriend and told her to calm down. I just didn't want to run the marathon with half a calf! Anyway, I got back in just under an hour and headed straight into the house as I needed to head over to the other side of town to get a massage. I had the time to write a note to Julie to tell her I would take her out for dinner and then jumped into the car. My legs felt ok but my calves were a little tight and my glutes were still a little locked up so I asked the lady to concentrate on those. Once I got out I headed over and bought Julie some flowers and then headed back to the apartment to pick her up. She was all dressed up and looking great so we drove over to Black Bart’s Steakhouse and had a great meal. I wanted to take her out as this was going to be our last night alone together before I head back over to the UK for a fortnight. All in all, it was great night and we had a really nice time. We are heading down to Phoenix tomorrow to stay at Julie’s parent’s house until Sunday as both her grand mothers are in town.

4/7/10

Wednesday’s Training – Am: 87 mins very easy Pm: 40 mins easy

Mileage – 18 Miles

I had a good nights sleep after going to bed early last night so I was hoping to feel really good today. I headed out to the Campbell Mesa trail again as surprise surprise, it was really windy again! I got off to a really slow start as the trailhead is uphill into the wind and I basically kept this pace for the rest of the run. This was my original idea as I have a hard workout tomorrow and I needed to recover from yesterday. It was nice just to plug in my ipod and just shuffle along for close to an hour and a half. I was still being blown about but I really wasn’t too bothered as I was pretty switched off. I need some days like this so that I can have lots of energy for the next day. It actually felt like a track season easy day. The hardest part was actually doing my drills after the run as I was being blown about the road. From the trail I headed over to the shops to pick up a few groceries before heading home to make some scrambled eggs with ham, mushrooms and red peppers and some fresh French loaf that I bought. It really filled me up so I would need a little while to digest the food before napping so I made a call to my coach in Scotland, Prof. Ron Morrison and my former FSU team and house mate, Luke Gunn (he and his girlfriend Hannah England are up in Mammoth Lakes doing some pre track season training). I was good to catch up with both of them and talk training for a little while. Once I got off of the calls, I fell right asleep and woke up an hour later.

After playing around on the computer for quite a while, I finally got out to do my second run. As usual I headed up the trail to Buffalo Park as I was just doing an easy 6 miles. Right when I got to the start of the park I met some old steeplechase rivals and stopped and talked to them for a while (Pieter Desmet of Belgium and Ben Bruce of the Oregon track team). They’re both opening up their season at the next Stanford meet and I must say I was little jealous that I wouldn’t be hitting the track again for a long while. After talking to them for about 5 minutes I headed back off on my run and it went by pretty quickly. It was still windy but I was really just switching my mind off for the run so I didn’t notice it too much. I got back and did some drills, strides and stretching and then quickly got showered and changed and drove to Julie’s work to pick her up as we were going over Picazzo’s to meet some friends for dinner.

We had a lovely dinner with my RCIA friend Jason Wolfe (the nutter who is running the Rim to Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon in a couple of weeks) and his wife, Aerie and their 2 little kids. The kids were really funny and very well behaved and we just had a nice time chatting and relaxing for a bit. We headed back to the house after dinner and watched an episode of Billy Connolly’s World Tour of New Zealand and then Julie was starting to fade pretty quickly so we just got ready to bed and fell asleep nice and early.

For those of you in the UK looking for a track 10km in the summer, there is going to be one at Meadowbank Stadium on June 6^th. There are very few track 10km opportunities in the UK and I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this issue online so here is a perfect opportunity to run one during the thick of the track season. Meadowbank can be a very fast track when the weather is good so hopefully there will be a good turnout for the event. It is open to everyone and there are a bunch of Scots already signed up and they are hopefully going to attract the Eritreans to the event so you can expect the event to be won close to 29 minutes.

4/6/10

Tuesday’s Training – Am: 24*200m with 200m rec. Pm: 66 mins easy

Mileage – 22 Miles

Martin and I drove down to Sedona for the workout this morning. Martin was just running easily s he has his workout but with the wind being lower in Sedona and the temperature higher, he wanted to run down there instead of suffering through a run in Flagstaff. We got to the track around 9am and got our usual warm up run in. As I went through my warm up drills and strides while Martin ran around the track. For some reason I felt fine on the drills but just not really up for a speed workout as I knew it was something I hadn’t done for a while and I knew I wasn’t going to be that good at it as this stage of my training. I took the first 3 reps pretty easy and then averaged around 31 secs for the rest of the workout. This was a strange feeling as I have been doing this workout since I was 16 and have always been able to run 30 secs for all the reps. I guess that’s marathon training for you! The wind couldn’t decide which way it was going to blow today so I kept having to change the direction of my reps. There was also another athlete at the track going through some hurdle drills very nicely and it was only once I was going for my warm down that I realised it was Dominique Arnold who has the USA 110m hurdle record of 12.90. I think he retired a few years ago so I guess he was just going through the paces again.

When I got back to the house I fell asleep for 2 hours. It felt so good to get a nice long nap and get some good recovery for my second run. I had some coffee and popped down to the post office before heading out the door and up to Buffalo Park for the run. Needless to say that it was windy again but I am really getting used to it now on the route that I take. It pushes me up the hill at the start and then knocks me back from the 0.4 to 1.5 mile mark of the 2 mile loop and then I am against it for the 2 miles back to the apartment. I was doing 10 miles for the evening run and so I started off very easy and then after 4 miles picked the pace up every 2 miles until I was running at a really good pace. This was the best way to do it as I was still feeling a little sluggish after my nap. It meant that I felt great striding down the trail to finish off the run although I couldn’t really take my mind off how sore my hands were as I had forgot to put gloves on and the wind froze them up. Julie got home just after me and we quickly had some left overs before heading out to a meeting we had.

We got to bed nice and early which felt great as I was already getting tired when we got back from our meeting.

4/5/10

Monday's Training - Am: 71 mins easy

Mileage - 10 Miles

I had a nice recovery day today and ended up doing hardly anything all day. Martin and I drove over to Campbell Mesa (easily the most complicated trail system i've ever been on) and ran there as it was really windy outside and we wanted to be as shaded as possible. My legs felt fine this morning with no stiffness or aches from yesterday so that was another great sign that my legs will be ready for the marathon distance in just a few weeks. Both Martin and I didn't want to get out of the car because the wind was so strong that it was almost singing outside! We got on our way and even in the trees it was pretty blustery. It was a strange run as the time didn't really pass by that quickly. I thought it must have been an hour of running when I looked at my watch but it was only 45 mins. I have still never run on these trails on my own as I think I would get lost. My mum visited last year and I told her to go out and back on the dirt road rather than get on the trails as she would probably get lost. Well...3 hours later we found her coming over the top of the hill after she had run round in circles trying to find her way back to the car! I spent much of the rest of the day napping and lazing about the house. I always feel guilty when I do this as I know Julie is at working hard all day and i'm doing nothing at home.

I decided to take the evening off as I had done a lot of miles yesterday and I have a speed workout tomorrow so I wanted to rest my legs a bit. I was feeling pretty tired anyway so a nights rest would be good for me. For dinner I grilled up eggplant, zuchinni, peppers and mushrooms and threw them in with some linguine and some left over ham from the weekend. It was just what I was needing as I had been craving pasta for a few days. We spent the rest of the night relaxing in front of the TV and heading to bed pretty early.

4/4/10

Sunday's Training - Am: 18 Mile Tempo Pm: 45 mins very easy

Mileage - 28 Miles

Weekly Mileage - 152 Miles

Today began at 5am as I was trying to replicate what I would do on marathon morning by getting up early, having a decent breakfast and be ready to start warming up at 8am. On my actual race day I will get up probably 4 hours before the race start (5.45am for the 9.45am start in London) and have a full size breakfast to get my energy stores full before I start the race. I didn't get to bed until midnight last night so I only got 5 hours of sleep but that is fine as that often happens before races with the early starts. I felt bad getting up that early because Julie's brother, Mike, was sleeping in the living room and I had to get the coffee ready, make some toast and oatmeal. I was making a little bit of a noise and he woke up and talked to me for a little bit before drifting back off to sleep. I left the house just before 7am and headed to Starbucks to read a little bit and get a double espresso before heading over to Lake Mary Rd for the workout. I met Greg, Ian and Paige there and with the wind being as strong as it was we decided to drive to the 15 mile mark and run the course backwards. I was going to run to the 3 mile mark and then turn around and run another 6 miles back. It actually didn't matter what we did because the wind was so strong and swirly that I was getting hit from every side for almost the whole run. The only mile I didn't run against was the very first one and it was slightly downhill so that was nice and quick (5.02) to get the workout started.

Getting ready to start

The next mile was against the wind and mostly up the steepest hill on the whole route so the 5.21 next mile wasn't unexpected. Greg drove behind me for the workout so that he could hand me my drinks every 3 miles so he pulled up alongside and said just to roll with the punches. If it is windy, don't fight too hard, if its hilly, don't worry about that mile being slow. This was good advise as I could have got very frustrated with how I was being pushed about by the wind. I hit a little bad patch at 8 miles but it was only because my lower back tightened up a little so my hamstrings got a little sore but after I got past the 10 mile mark I felt fine again.

Catching up to Paige

Greg wanted me to run steadily for the first 12 miles and then run hard for the last 6 miles. He said the point was to try and empty the tank and then try to continue to push on at that point. Its like getting to the 20 mile point in the mile and then run hard for the last 6 miles. As Steve Jones says "a marathon is just a Sunday long run with a 6 mile race at the end". Doing this was mentally good for me because it broke the workout up and I could concentrate on just cruising and then running hard for 30 mins at the end. I turned around at the 12 miles and got straight into a good rhythm. Greg handed me an energy gel which was a new one I was trying with caffeine in it and unfortunately it was really really thick and I couldn't really swallow it easily. It also got all over my hands and face and it just made a mess soI decided never to use that one again. I couldn't get my gloves back on as my hands were like glue at this point. After getting up the hill and heading back down and then up again onto the plateau that runs parallel to the Lake I started to feel really good and was moving well. I really wanted to push it hard but there was a strong cross wind and it was tough to really drive my legs quickly enough to run really fast. My 17th mile was good as it was downhill and shaded from the wind but then I turned into the wind on the one mile where I really wanted to run fast (the last one). Greg started shouting a lot to just really pick it up and that there was only a few minutes of running left. This helped a lot but then all of a sudden as I cleared the area with the trees and I got blown straight into the middle of the road! That was 5 meters sideways and I had no power to stop it. Greg started shouting more and I just picked the pace up as much as I could. I finished the 18 miles in 1.34.21 which ended up being an average of 5.14s which was good as it was so windy and I was at 7,000ft. I can't wait until I get to run in still conditions! My legs felt fine and aerobically I felt good so that told me that my strength is there. Greg was pleased because my form never broke and even on the last mile when I was pushing hard, my legs were still picking up and in full sprint mode.

I drove back to the apartment and quickly showered as we were all heading out for a lunch buffet at Josephine's. The food was so good and I quickly put the 6 pounds back on that I had lost during the run. Julie's family left soon after lunch so Julie and I tried to nap on the couch but we weren't very successful. We just lazed about for a while and then I headed out for a very slow 6 miles on the trail. I got back and logged the training for the day and was happy that I got through my highest mileage week ever unscathed and feeling good. A dinner of leftovers from yesterday and watching a film got me very tired and prepared for a very good night's sleep.

4/3/10

Saturday's Training - Am: 69 mins easy Pm: 41 mins easy

Mileage - 16 Miles

Today was a very easy day as my big workout for the week would be tomorrow. Originally I was supposed to do the 18 mile tempo today but with the wind really picking up this week, we pushed it back a day (so everything next week go back a day also and that fits perfectly with my travel plans back to the UK as now I don't have to do a hard workout the day I step off the plane). It was very windy today and I did both runs at Buffalo Park as this would force me to go nice and slow. I did drill and strides after both runs to keep my legs awake for tomorrow. I usually find that if I have 3 days easy in a row that my legs aren't as responsive when it comes to a workout because they haven't done anything hard for a few days.

The day itself was relaxing as I ran a few errands in the morning/afternoon and then Julie's family arrived for the easter celebrations. Julie cooked a big ham, an apple compote, green beans and Lorie brought up some great potato salad for us. THis was all ready for when I got back from my second run so I quickly showered and we all sat down and ate together. My eating plans were thrown off a little (I wanted to replicate what I would do the day before the marathon) as I had breakfast/lunch at 11am and lunch/dinner at 4.30pm. I would have preferred to move everything back a couple of hours and get another meal in but with everything that was going on today it just wasn't possible. Julie and I left at 6pm to go to the church and get ready for my baptism. The rest of the family met us there at 7pm when the service started. It was a great evening and it was really nice to have Julie's family there for the baptism. It would have been nice if my family to be there but its a bit of a long journey from Scotland to Flagstaff! When we got back, we dug straight into the cake that Julie had made (we all gave up sweets as part of lent and i'm continuing this until after London but I had to celebrate with a big slice tonight). We didn't end up getting to bed until 12am (the service didn't end until after 10pm) so I wasn't going to get much sleep as I was getting up at 5am to prepare for the morning's workout.

4/2/10

Friday's Training - Am: 92 mins easy Pm: 65 mins easy (3 miles of 100 strides hard/100 strides easy)

Mileage - 24 Miles

Today was a little crammed to say the least. I got up at the usual time and headed out the door just after 8am to get my 90 minute run in. I took a new route on the roads, out to the very south of town and did a nice loop around a very picturesque lake. It had some huge homes dotted around its edge so I figured this is where all the wealthy people like to live. I headed back through Country Club and the run had been fairly easy until I hit the 10 mile point. The rest of the run was a long slow climb while I battled against the wind. I was going to do a bunch of strides during the run but there would have been no point against the wind. I settled for doing them during my second run. I got home and did some drills and stretches and chowed down on some granola with a batch of fresh strawberries that I bought yesterday. This put me right to sleep and I woke up 90 minutes later feeling very refreshed. I made some coffee and relaxed for another hour before I headed out for my second run at 1.30pm. I had to get out early as I had a massage at 3pm.

I felt pretty good on the run and broke it up by doing 3 miles in the middle alternating between 100 strides hard and 100 strides easy. This made my legs perk up a bit and feel a little more snappy on the very soft dirt trail I was on. Yesterday's snow didn't really mess too much with Buffalo Park or the trail leading up to it from the house so thats where I did the run.

I quickly got changed, grabbed a bagel and my protein drink and headed downtown to get a massage from Dana. It turned out that I really needed it as my legs felt fine but I mentioned to her that my glutes were feeling a little nervy and so she got right to work. My back was locked up and that was making my glutes tight also so she got right in there with her elbows and forearms and got some really good work done. It was a very tough session for me. Lots of wincing and gritting of teeth but as usual Dana got me to relax so she could ease things out. i left there feeling great and went straight to the store to buy a 20 pound bag of ice so I could take an ice bath. Because our shower runs out of hot water very quickly, I fumbled into some clothes (I could really bend my legs after being in the bath) and drove over to the gym to have a long hot shower. I came out tingling and this felt so good. I got some more groceries on the way back and quickly made some pasta and again we finished off a whole loaf of fresh bread in one go. I managed to finish dinner this time without having to take it in the car with me. Julie and I headed over to church for the Veneration of the Cross (which was a very relaxing and peaceful service) and then drove home to relax for the rest of the night.